In My What happens after you raise a complaint — and what if they retaliate?
Raising a complaint is a threshold moment: you can't un-know that you spoke up, and the waiting that follows can be its own kind of stress. Knowing the shape of what comes next makes it less frightening.
The realistic timeline
For a PoSH complaint, the Internal Committee should acknowledge it, may offer conciliation if you want it (without any monetary settlement as the basis), and otherwise begins a formal inquiry. The inquiry is meant to be completed within about 90 days, and the employer must act on the Committee's recommendations within 60 days. For a general HR grievance, timelines depend on your employer's own policy — which is exactly why putting your complaint in writing, and asking for the expected timeline in writing, matters.
Retaliation — what it is, and that it's not allowed
Retaliation is when raising a concern is punished — suddenly you're sidelined, given impossible targets, excluded from meetings, transferred out, marked down in an appraisal that was fine last cycle, or issued a show-cause notice out of nowhere. Under the PoSH Act, victimising someone for making a complaint is prohibited, and it can be a fresh complaint in its own right. If your treatment worsens right after you speak up, the timing is part of your evidence.
How to protect yourself
- Keep documenting — even more carefully now. Every change in how you're treated, dated. A clean before-and-after is powerful.
- Keep delivering the job. Don't hand them a real performance reason. Confirm instructions in writing and keep proof of your work.
- Watch for the paper trail against you. A first-ever warning after a complaint is a classic retaliation signal — respond in writing, calmly, to the facts (see our show-cause guide).
- Report retaliation specifically. Name it as retaliation, in writing, to the IC or HR — don't let it blur into the original complaint.
- Protect your health. Waiting is heavy. Line up support outside work, and keep the crisis helpline within reach if it gets dark.
Most complaints don't end in disaster — but going in with your eyes open, and your records in order, is how you stay steady whichever way it goes.
You don't have to work this out alone. In My Corner is a team of five AI companions for exactly this — one who listens, one who decodes letters and knows your deadlines, one who keeps your evidence organised, one for fresh starts, one who teaches. Private by design: conversations are never stored on our servers.
Talk it through — In My Corner